Mini-short stories, often referred to as "flash fiction," are "bite-sized" tales comprising some 500-1,500 words. Due to their uniqueness and brevity, mini-short stories may even constitute a subgenre of the hollowed short story tradition, as some literary critics have remarked. Certainly, they display some distinctive literary features: a highly condensed narrative, brief but illuminating characterization, a single overarching incident, and a flash of symbolic meaning. Many classic authors of the past - Leo Tolstoy, James Joyce, Stephen Crane, and Earnest Hemingway, to name a few - have richly contributed to the growing corpus of mini-short stories.
In "The Art of the Mini-Short Story," new author Leif E. Trondsen presents an exciting collection of 20 original mini-short stories. This work, however, is not simply an anthology of Trondsen's own "abbreviated tales." The author also provides an intimate "portal" into the creative process of one aspiring fiction writer at work with his chosen craft. In Part One, each chapter is devoted to one of Trondsen's first 10 mini-short stories, in the chronological order in which they were written. These are accompanied by a "commentary" detailing each story's overall composition. This commentary reveals the sources of inspiration, storyline development, the editing process, the assistance of others, and, lastly, the author's reflection upon each of these finished literary products. In Part Two, Trondsen includes an additional 10 mini-short stories as an added bonus to his readers. These "mature works" were written after the author's earlier attempts at defining and mastering the mini-short story format. They are thus richer in detail, plotline, and characterization.
The 20 mini-short stories included in this volume cover a variety of literary genres, such as drama, horror, science fiction, and satire. All, however, conclude with Trondsen's tell-tale "twist" endings, in the style of the short stories of Edgar Allen Poe, Ambrose Bierce, Saki, and O. Henry. A sampling of these mini-short stories includes: "The Scorekeeper," a frightening tale of a deranged serial killer as he stalks his human prey and justifies his depravity to himself; "The Confession," an unusual story about an old Irish priest who hears the confession of an unexpected and potentially lethal penitent; "Sweet Sorrow," a disturbing story of an estranged husband who plans the perfect murder of his wife after viewing a true life TV murder mystery; and "The Apparition," a Gothic tale of forbidden love and bloody revenge involving a New England farmer who enters into an "unlawful tryst" with a ghostly apparition. These mini-short stories are intended to "entertain, inspire, enlighten, challenge, and, yes, even shock their readers."
Beautifully set in Perpetua type and illustrated with color photographs, "The Art of the Mini-Short Story" is a "must read" for aspiring fiction writers as well as for all readers who enjoy a truly "good read."
About the Author: Born in Lillehammer, Norway (site of the 1994 Winter Olympics), Leif E. Trondsen received his B.A. in History from California State University, Long Beach and M.A. in History from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he was a doctoral student specializing in the classical world of Greece and Rome. Leif eventually hopes to complete a Ph.D. in History or pursue a M.A. in Theology. He currently works as a part-time writer and historian as well as a full-time caregiver for his 4-year-old grandson Dominic, who has autism. Leif lives in Orange County in Southern California - deep behind the "Orange Curtain."
